FLAME MOUNTAIN

A card stained with betrayal, a dance left unfinished — on the day same-sex marriage is legalized, he returns to Flame Mountain, where a boy once vanished.

In high school, Zhi-Guo fled from dancing with Yi-Cheng, terrified of his own sexual fluidity. Yi-Cheng then developed feelings for freshman Zong-Fu, who became a bullying target and disappeared into Flame Mountain. Years later, Zhi-Guo’s marriage crumbled while Yi-Cheng returned home to mourn the past, discovering that the bullying incident stemmed from Zhi-Guo’s jealousy. In a dream, Zong-Fu appeared waving flags in Morse code, signaling “Hope for the future.” Yi-Cheng ultimately tied the card—symbol of the bullying—to the camp gate, allowing that unfinished dance to continue across time and memory.